Editor's Note for Opol's December Issue

Dec 01, 2025

Design by Venessa Tai Yeh. Illustration from public domain images courtesy of British Library.

Welcome to Issue 4! Each month I try to listen to the story that wants to unfold from the poems. The first three issues followed a light, dark, light pattern. But for December’s issue, as we enter winter, the story in my body felt like this issue should begin with darkness.

This issue holds the death of things, and while death is just a whisper away, we continue with our lives and find small pockets of warmth. In darkness, we evolved to find each other, to create warmth together. Defiant against a cold, harsh world, and in modern times, against a world numbed by convenience, ruled by greed.

We begin with death, brutal and lonely, and move into things that vanish—years, innocence, home, hope. Then, we move into the small moments of warmth found through witness, reverence, and love.

We see light return in the morning, sometimes the light is a person. While we drift on into darkness, we yearn, we wait. We discover the light within. We remind each other of each other’s light, we invite each other into our safety.

The heart is resilient, we find hope in connection, in the power of words. And at last, we sink into the transcendence of dissolving into nature, and awakening our collective conscience—to love each other better. It is our kindness, our empathy, that makes us unique, not our cleverness nor anything quantifiable.

From the winter hearth, hope here is not naïve but powerful resistance against the odds to grow a new world, founded on love.

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted! It is the greatest honor that you’ve chosen Opol as a home for your poetry. Your work matters, whether it appears in this issue or not.

I’m looking for sponsors this month for our Palestinian poets who are living through genocide. My goal is $40 to sponsor 5 poets. If you’d like to contribute, please email me at hello@opol.space!

Last but not least, thank you, dearest reader, for being here. 🧡

Warmly,
Venessa
Founder | Opol

Read the December Issue ❄️

P.S. Look out for the release of our first quarterly magazine! Opol’s first quarterly magazine will be released on December 15th, just before the winter solstice. The quarterly consists of 32 poems that embody presence & witness—three months of holding what we’ve seen as autumn descends into darkness.

The magazine differs from our monthly issues as they are focused meditations and include visual art collaborations. For Autumn 2025, Opol has partnered with Chang Liu (changliu.io), whose dreamy abstract photography breathes with the poems through light and blur and stillness. (Fun fact, his photography was featured on ODESZA’s In Return album cover. If you’ve never heard of ODESZA, I recommend you give them a listen!)

🌼 How to get yours 🌼

For the price of a milk tea ($8) each month, patrons receive all digital quarterlies included in their subscription to Opol. For those who would like to get a copy of their own but can’t afford the monthly payments, you will be able to get a digital copy for $11!

Sign up with a free account to receive the purchase link right in your inbox or become a patron1 to receive the download link by email as soon as it’s released.

You can also follow us here on Substack or Instagram @opol.space where I will also be announcing the release.

~ The first 50 patrons will receive poetry + tea pairings (like wine + cheese) and Opol will be $8 for you forever. ~

Due to slight (and totally understandable) confusion among some lovely community members, I would like to point out that Opol’s subscription system is separate and unrelated to Substack’s subscription system. Opol’s Substack is meant to be a free blog for announcements and behind-the-scenes posts. If you would like to support Opol, please use this link: opol.space/subscribe ✨